1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a motor vehicle roof with a control means for operating at least one electrical motor vehicle component by a passenger of the vehicle and a corresponding process for operation of at least one electrical vehicle component.
2. Description of Related Art
The interior of modern motor vehicles generally houses a host of electrical controls which must be manually actuated by the driver or by passengers of the vehicle to operate motor vehicle components (for example, slide switches, rotary switches or pushbuttons).
Controls which are considered especially important in practice (for example, for the headlights, windshield wipers, etc.) must generally be located within the immediate visual range of the driver, i.e., in the area of the vehicle interior which the driver can easily survey while driving “with a glance forward” without greater distraction from ambient events and which lies within “reach” of the driver. This area for placement of controls, which is preferred especially for safety reasons, is directly in front of the driver in a motor vehicle so that these controls can be located preferably on the steering column, the dashboard or a center console.
With the increasing comfort in modern motor vehicles and the associated rise in the number of control functions to be performed, the arrangement of controls within sight of the driver has become more and more difficult for reasons of space.
To solve this space problem, attempts have already been made to implement numerous control functionalities at the same time by a single control means with which the functions can be selected, for example, in a “menu structure”. This choice can be made, for example, by means of several buttons and/or a type of “joystick”. The disadvantage here is that this choice of control functions is rather time-consuming, and thus, unduly distracts the driver.
Mainly for controls which can be considered less important with respect to driving safety and which are to be activated especially rather infrequently, in their arrangement, there has been a switch to areas of the vehicle interior which are not in direct sight of the driver. Examples of this in motor vehicles include the operation of electrical windows by controls on the driver's side inner door panel, the operation of electrically adjustable outside mirrors by controls on the armrest console which is located in the middle next to the driver's seat when viewed in the transverse direction of the motor vehicle, or the operation of a roof opening system (for example, sliding and lifting roof, louvered roof, etc.) by controls on the motor vehicle roof area. The disadvantage here is that the operation easily distracts the driver and so-called “blind operation” is difficult or requires a corresponding routine of the operator.
In the known controls, the function of which is based on pressing, pulling or turning an actuating element, it is furthermore a disadvantage that these controls are subject to more or less extensive wear of the mechanical parts. Regardless of this, in general, their design must be carefully matched to the interior of the pertinent motor vehicle. In this respect, in practice, it is generally not a matter of standard controls, but components and assemblies of complex construction and design. Moreover, the arrangement of individual controls or control assemblies has the disadvantage that variance of the vehicle equipment (for example, with or without a sliding roof, with or without outside mirror adjustment, etc.) entails a corresponding variance of the corresponding interior panel parts or consoles which are designed for housing these controls or the combination of controls which is desired for the special vehicle model. Finally, for the operation of a control which is to be mechanically actuated, in the dark, it is difficult to find the control, mainly if it is not lighted and/or it is out of direct sight of the operator. In this connection, it is noted that permanent lighting (also for example, background lighting) of controls in the dark is often perceived as disturbing by vehicle passengers.
Published German Patent Application DE 196 49 573 A1 discloses an input device, especially a computer input device, with which hand movements can be detected and transmitted to terminal devices. The known device can be used, for example, to control a mouse in a text processing program, two-dimensional movements being detected as the displacement of a pressure point on a piezo-sensory surface.
Published German Patent Application DE 43 12 672 A1 discloses a proximity, mouse-compatible pointer input device for controlling the motion of a cursor or a pointer on a screen, for example, instead of a computer mouse, the hand or the finger of the operator being moved in the vicinity of the sensor field.
Published German Patent Application DE 42 01 934 A1 discloses a data processing system which is controlled by forms of expression of human gestures, specifically by taking pictures of the human body or parts of it and translation of the forms of expression extracted therefrom into commands for controlling the data processing system.
In May 2003, ASIC products of the company Elmos Semiconductor AG were presented at the Internet site “www.elmos.de”. With reference to the product labeled E909.01 (“Optical Switch with High Ambient Light Immunity”), a switch means based on an optical detection principle was described with which, through a translucent surface, the approach of a finger, contact of the surface with the finger or movement of the finger on the surface can be detected.
Similar sensor controls were presented and described at the Internet site “www.mechaless.de” in May 2003, such as, for example, optical proximity sensors, optical switches and optical linear regulators in which the sensor technology is located hidden behind the surface of the control.